A Shade of Vampire 37: An Empire of Stones(5)

I worried about Tejus too.

He might have seemed unbreakable to me most of the time—the man, or creature, who would protect me with his own life in a heartbeat. But the more we saw of the entity’s power, the more fallible and human Tejus became in my eyes. And the more I loved him for it.

“Will you take me with you tomorrow?” Yelena asked as we reached her door.

“No,” I replied firmly. “It’s too dangerous. I need you to stay here and look after the rest of the kids with Jenney, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

She turned to open the door, but then paused.

“Will he be back for me tonight?” she asked, her voice hitching in fear as she began to tremble in front of the door.

“No!” I exclaimed, pulling her back round to face me. I pushed her hair back from her face and gazed solemnly down at her. “You’re going to be safe here. Tejus will put guards and ministers outside the door. Benedict’s after the stones, not you.”

What am I saying?

In what crazy world was my brother a figure of fear for a young girl? I felt sick.

“I know it’s not him,” she replied softly.

I nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Yelena flung her arms around me fiercely.

“We’ll find him tomorrow,” I reassured her. “We’ll bring him back.”

“I know,” she whispered against my hair, before untangling herself from the embrace and slipping back into her quarters.

“We will find him, right?” I asked Tejus, watching the closing door.

“We’ll try.”

“Just lie to me, okay?” I retorted through gritted teeth.

“We’ll find him and he’ll be fine,” Tejus lied softly.





Ben





The morning after his unexpected visit, Sherus had requested that my father and I join him for a meeting that was taking place in the fae kingdom. We were standing at the peak of Mount Logan, Canada. Mona had transported us here from The Shade and stood a few paces back from the two of us, staring down into the starry, swirling blackness of the portal. My father looked out over the mountain range and the cloud mists that hung miles below us. We were both wearing black GASP uniforms, and our figures stood out starkly against the white snow. The mountain brought back memories that I would rather forget—the tasks that I’d had to accomplish to earn my ticket out of The Underworld. The uncertainty that River and I had faced when we’d believed I might never return to her in physical form. It was fair to say that my feelings toward Sherus were complicated.

“I wonder how long we’ll need to—”

Before my father could finish his sentence, Sherus stepped out of the portal and onto the snow. He was accompanied by two other fae, who I suspected were guards—heavily armed, with their expressionless gazes fixed on the three of us.

“Thank you for coming.” Sherus bowed his head politely.

My father nodded, a touch stiff, but not unmannered.

Sherus’s eyes flicked to Mona.

“Our guards will escort Benjamin and Derek the rest of the way. Your services are no longer required.”

Mona nodded stiffly. “Call me when you need to return,” she muttered to my father and me. After casting one last suspicious look at the fae, she vanished.

With Mona gone, we were alone with these fae, and the idea made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

My father stepped closer to the portal.

“I will lead,” Sherus asserted, and gently lowered himself down into the crater. Feeling the suction, my father grabbed hold of my shoulders to stop himself from hurtling downward—since I could fly as a fae, I could resist the pull. We followed Sherus gradually, with the guards floating down behind us. I looked at the translucent, bluish smoky walls of the portal that surrounded us, and resisted the urge to touch them until it was required. It had been a long time since I’d passed through them.

We followed Sherus down a few feet further, and then he stopped.

“Here,” he commanded, and pushed himself right through the swirling walls.

I did the same, still supporting my father, and soon we were hovering in the silent vacuum of the In-Between.

“Behold the empire of the fae,” Sherus said softly, pointing up at four globes that created a gentle arc in the black sky. Each glowed softly: white for the air kingdom, blue for the water kingdom, golden-brown for the earth kingdom, and a red hue that marked where we would be headed—the kingdom of fire.

“It has been a long time since we have entertained guests,” he continued, eyeing us. “But it is now a must.”

We drifted from the tunnel, moving closer to the fae kingdom. I recalled the time I had come here as a spirit, how frightening it had seemed, leaving the tunnel and drifting out into the great abyss. Even now, with my father with me and the fae as our escorts, I didn’t want to look back and see the reassuring form of the tunnel disappearing from view.